Bob Damato, better known by his stage name Bobby D, doesn’t want music’s notable songs to get stuck in the past.
It’s what’s driven the Floral Park 71-year-old to take the latest show in his more than 40-year career, “Music, Love, and Memories,” across Long Island, which he typically kicks off by singing covers of notable artists also by the name of Bobby. Think names like Vinton, Rydell and Darin.
“The main reason I sing this music is because I don’t want it to go away,” said Damato, who also performs hits from other ’60s and ’70s artists like Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Tom Jones during his show.
“When I’m at an event, and I see 21- to 25-year-olds, I key in on them mostly,” Damato said. “I’ll say to them, ‘Do you remember this song?’ And they’ll say, ‘No, we don’t know it.’ And I really get them to like the music. I work very hard at that because you don’t really hear this music that much anymore,” he said, adding that he will tell stories about the artists whose songs he sings while performing.
He’s been putting on this show for the past few years with the help of his friend Ray McKnight, who does background sound and lighting for the show. The two met at an outdoor mass during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic at Holy Spirit Church in New Hyde Park, where Damato was lectoring to parishioners sitting in their cars and McKnight was handling sound.
“I went to speak into the mic, and I said, ‘Wow, that’s the sound I’ve been looking for. That’s a beautiful sound.’ So I turned to the guy that was doing the sound,” Damato said. He said he wouldn’t be able to do his current show without McKnight.
“He’s like the band behind me,” Damato added. “We don’t even look at each other anymore. He knows exactly where I’m going in the show, how I’m speaking, what song I’m going into.”
When Bobby D isn’t playing in local restaurants like Levittown’s La Focaccia, Mineola’s Cassariano’s, and Monroe’s Restaurant in Westbury, he’s performing at private parties, outdoor village festivals and senior citizen centers, which he said is one of his favorite places to sing.
“When I walk in there, I know those people have nowhere to go and I’m bringing them something joyful for that day. They so look forward to it,” Damato said, adding that he looks forward to giving people music they can relate to.
Retired from a 45-year career at Con Edison, Bobby D typically performs three to four times a week across the island while teaching and designing courses on leadership, in which he holds a degree, at Manhattan University.
Prior to his current show with McKnight, he spent 25 years performing with a seven-piece band called New York Connection, which similarly played covers of ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s music across the New York area. He’s also spent the past 10 years performing musical theatre with the New Hyde Park Players, a community theatre group, where he has starred in productions like “Annie,” “Mary Poppins,” and “Beauty and the Beast.”
“I’m very humbled and honored that I can perform for people still at my age,” said Damato, who’s been singing for his family since he was a young kid. “I’m so happy and so grateful to people that come to the shows. They don’t have to come. I’m not Elvis Presley. I’m a person that just enjoys bringing music, memories and love to people.”
You can do your part to keep old music from dying out by catching Bobby D at one of his upcoming shows, including La Focaccia on April 30, Cassariano’s on May 4, and the Floral Park Library on July 10.
